Men's Hockey | 12/29/2015 9:15:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team opens up the 2016 calendar year with a home-and-home series against Atlantic Hockey foe Mercyhurst University this weekend. RIT hosts the Lakers on Saturday, Jan. 2 from the Gene Polisseni Center at 4:05 p.m. and travels to the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Sunday, Jan. 3 for a 7:05 p.m. contest.
 
Tickets are available for Saturday's game online at www.rithockey.com, the Gene Polisseni Center Box Office, or by calling (585) 475-4121. Saturday is kid's day at the Polisseni Center. There will several activities geared towards children on the lower concourse.
 
RIT returns to the ice for the first time in three weeks, sporting a 5-9-2 overall mark and 5-4-1 record in Atlantic Hockey play. This weekend begins a stretch where RIT plays 18 games over the final nine weekends of the regular season, 10 contests in January and eight in February. All 18 games are against Atlantic Hockey foes. Saturday's game is the official halfway point of the regular season.
 
Last time out, RIT split a home-and-home series against Niagara, falling 2-0 at the Gene Polisseni Center on Dec. 11, while rebounding to win 4-2 on the road the following evening. Goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) stopped 50 of 53 shots in the weekend series.
 
Sophomore Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals), who had a goal and an assist in the 4-2 win over Niagara on Dec. 12, has 10 points on six goals and four assists in 16 games. Gabe Valenzeula is RIT's leading scorer among first-year players with eight points. RIT's defense has combined for 34 points this season, led by Greg Amlong (O'Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell), who has 10 points on five goals and five assists. Rotolo has a 3.03 goals against average and .896 save percentage, while Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) is 2-2-0 with a 2.75 goals against average and an .884 save percentage.
 
Mercyhurst enters 2016 with an 8-8-0 record, including a 6-4-0 mark in league play. The Lakers are back in action after a four-week hiatus in which they were swept by Holy Cross by scores of 5-4 and 7-3 on Dec. 4-5. The Lakers are 2-5-0 over their last seven games after a 6-3-0 start. Mercyhurst is being out-scored by its opponents, 57-56 this season. Jack Riley leads the team in scoring with 16 points on six goals and 10 assists. Riley, Derek Barach, and Jonathan Charbonneau a team-best six goals, while Riley and Phillipe Drouin both have 10 assists to lead the way.  In net, Brandon Wildung is 6-5-0 with a 3.18 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.
 
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 33-18-6, including a 17-9-3 in the Division I era. RIT won all three meetings between the two schools last season by a combined score of 15-2. It is a rematch of the 2015 Atlantic Hockey Championship in which RIT won by a score of 5-1. The two teams also met to wrap up the 2014-15 regular season at the Polisseni Center, with RIT victorious by scores of 8-0 and 2-1.
 
Saturday's game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports in Rochester with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio on the call. In addition, both contests will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and witr.rit.edu. Online video is also available, along with live stats Friday and Saturday.

Come out and support the Tigers as they look to repeat as Atlantic Hockey Champions.